White Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake

If I had to say I had a signature dessert, then this would be it.  About 10 years ago I set out to make the perfect baked cheesecake and after making and consuming so many cheesecakes that I actually became sick of them. Then there were some some pretty wacky ideas that seemed, like so many ideas conceived late at night, pure genius yet failed to survive the cold hard light of day.  (I am still in two minds about the Rhubarb and Stilton Cheesecake with Confit of Rhubarb on the side but have no one to test it on.)

Finally the day dawned when the realisation that of all the people who suffered (yeah right!) my attempts as more than willing guinea pigs felt that the combination of sweet white chocolate and sharp,tangy raspberry was the best received.  I declared the search to be over.  From henceforth, there would be no tinkering of recipes.  This one was perfected.  Completed.....But...

But I could not help myself.  New products came on the market, old favourites became deleted lines or worse, the recipe was changed which changed the whole flavor and or taste profile of the finished product.  I had to start tinkering again.

There are few things you need to watch out for in this recipe.  The most important is that this cheesecake will leak raspberry liquid into your oven which will burn on like nothing else.  Using a springform tin will allow this to happen and is rather necessary as by using a sealed mould can cause the base to become soggy and the filling to not set properly. Overcome this by wrapping a thin layer of tin foil around to catch the spills.  If you sit a tray underneath the cheesecake base may not be baked properly.

I like to leave the cheesecake in the oven overnight to finish setting rather than pulling it out and cooling fast in the fridge.  I believe that this also helps to prevent the formation of cracks on the top of the cheesecake.

But enough jibber-jabber, on to the main event
Ingredients

Base
250 grams of shortbread
100 grams softened butter
50 grams ground almonds
1/4 teaspoon each ground cinnamon and nutmeg

Filling
500 grams cream cheese
juice and rind of 1/2 lemon
2 eggs, sperated
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup + 1/4 cup sugar
100 grams melted white chocolate
1/4 cup frozen raspberries

Method

Preheat oven to 175 degC.

In a food processor combine the ingredients for the base. Press into a lined springform tin covering the base and coming about 2cm up the sides. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.

In a glass bowl, mix the cream cheese, lemon zest and juice, egg yolks, 1/4 cup sugar with an electric beater. Stir in the white chocolate to combine.

In a separate glass bowl, mix the egg white to soft peaks, then slowly add the sugar while beating to form stiff peaks.

Add the raspberries to the cheesecake mix, then gently fold in the egg white.

Add to the base and bake for about an hour until the center of the cheesecake is wobbly when jiggled, but the outer edge seems to be set. Switch off the oven and allow to cool completely.